Is your waist measurement too small now that you brought in the hip curve? If the waist measurement still fits you but you just lack darts, that’s ok. You can make pants without darts as long as everything fits. The more important part is that the waist fits. If the waist is now too small, I would skip that alteration step and just keep the hip curve at the original spot. If you want to make pants with an elastic waist, you will no longer have a hip curve in your pattern. Instead you’re taking your widest point (should be your hip) and extending it straight up to the waistline. Again, no hip curve (or darts), just an even straight line. Also, you will no longer have a separate waistband but will be extending the top of the pants to include enough fabric to make a casing for your elastic. The amount depends on the width of your elastic. If you’re using 1″ wide elastic I would say 1″ doubled (because you’re folding it over) so that’s 2″. Plus you need to turn over the raw edge (1/4″) and add a little bit so it’s easy to get the elastic through (maybe another 1/2″). Add that to the original 2″ and you’ll be extending straight up from the waistline, another 2 3/4″. Also, your line at the top of your pants should be a straight line to the crotch curve. If you make these pants out of non-stretchy fabric, it might be a good idea to add some ease so the pants are more comfortable. So if the hipline currently fits you perfectly, maybe extend the hipline out by a 1/2″ or so, just to give you a little breathing room. Don’t forget to test this out on cheap fabric first. Good luck! I’d love to see your pants when you finish. 🙂
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